Shooting Star (3 page)

Priest was quiet for several moments. “Does he make you hard?”

“Fuck you.” There was no way Jessup would discuss the state of his dick with Priest.

Priest groaned. “That’s answer enough for me. I think you should go for it. I would.”

Jealousy rose up in Jessup, but instead of being upset at the thought of Priest fucking someone else, it was the idea of
Brac
getting fucked that bothered him. “Drop it.”

“Did you let him touch you?”

“Priest,” Jessup warned. He remembered his body’s reaction to
Brac’s
brief touch the night of Ezra’s barbecue.

“Don’t Priest me. If whoever this guy is can touch you without you jumping out of your skin, fucking let him.” Priest sighed. “You deserve to be touched. Hell, unlike me, you probably deserve to be loved.”

Jessup hated hearing his friend talk like that. They’d never delved into Priest’s past or whether or not he’d ever had someone to love. As far as he knew, no one had got close enough to the man to risk asking. “I’m sure there’s someone out there for you to love. People are always going on about soul mates. Who knows, maybe they really exist.”

“If they do, I’ve probably already killed mine,” Priest whispered, his voice dropping even lower.

Jessup heard the sound of breaking glass in the background.
“Something happening?”

“Yeah.
Gotta
go.
Call me later and let me know how it goes with the babysitting job.” Priest hung up before Jessup could say anything more.

With a shake of his head, Jessup hung up the phone. He didn’t miss the constant danger of his old job, but he knew Priest lived for it.

“Can I come in now?”

Startled, Jessup moved away from the door and spun around.
Brac
stood on the other side of the glass with a scowl on his handsome face. “Sorry,” Jessup said, opening the door.

Brac
strode into the kitchen and straight to the fridge. He pulled out a beer and finished half the bottle in one gulp. “Why didn’t you tell me you had phone coverage out here?”

“Because I knew you’d call your agent and tell him where we are.” Jessup crossed his arms and waited for
Brac
to deny it.

“My professional life depends on me staying in touch with Hal. Do you have any idea how much shit’s going on in LA right now?”
Brac
held out his hand. “Let me use your phone. Hell, you can listen in on the conversation if you’re so worried I’ll give away our secret location.”

Jessup didn’t want to cave to
Brac’s
demands, but he understood the necessity of checking in with his agent. In truth, he hadn’t wanted
Brac
to find out all was well in LA and he could go back to work. Selfish or not, Jessup felt the best place for the star to be was under his watchful eye. “Here.” He handed over the phone after putting it on speaker.

Brac
rolled his eyes. He finished his beer and tossed the empty bottle into the trashcan. “I can’t believe you’re really going to listen,” he mumbled, punching numbers.

Jessup didn’t answer. Instead he went to the refrigerator and removed the steaks and bottled marinade he’d bought at the store.

“Hal Walker Agency.”

“Hi Marlene,
it’s
Brac
. Can you put me through to Hal?”

“Sure thing, sweetie, although I wouldn’t want to be you right now.”

“No one wants to be me right now,” he mumbled after he was put on hold.

 
“Where the fuck have you been!” a loud voice screamed through the phone.

“Hiding out,”
Brac
replied. “I don’t have coverage out here. I think it’s time to find a new provider that has more than six cell towers. So what’s going on with the investigation?”

Jessup rubbed the T-bones down with salt and pepper before pouring the marinade over the top. Although he had his back to
Brac
, he was listening closely to every word.

“It’s not good,” Hal said. “I went to the studio to talk to Ike and saw Jeremy
Brouchard
leaving his office.”

“Randal’s boy toy?
Why would he be meeting with Ike?”
Brac
asked.

“That was my question, but Ike wouldn’t answer me.” Hal sighed into the phone. “I think Ike was auditioning him.”

“Why do you think that?”

Jessup glanced over his shoulder to find
Brac
pacing back and forth across the kitchen. He couldn’t help but wonder if it was the mention of Randal’s boyfriend or the fact that the boyfriend had auditioned that seemed to put
Brac
on edge.

“Because Ike told me Randal had been in to see him,” Hal explained. “Is there something going on between the two of you?”

“No. Why?”
Brac
stopped walking when he made eye contact with Jessup.

“Randal wants you off the show. Ike didn’t tell me why, but he said Randal was prepared to back up the extra who filed the harassment case if you weren’t removed from the cast.”

“What?”
Brac
shouted. He ran his hands through his hair, pulling at the loosely curled locks. “You think he’s trying to get Jeremy on to take my place?”

“Yep,” Hal answered.

Although Jessup had no stake in
Brac’s
career, he hated the thought of anyone being railroaded out of a job. He knew nothing about how things worked in the entertainment industry, but he had a feeling backstabbing was a way of life for most of them.

“I should call Randal,”
Brac
replied.

“I wouldn’t advise it. I don’t know what kind of game the man’s playing, but it stinks to high heaven. I already have feelers out for shows looking to jack up their ratings. Maybe we’ll get lucky and land you a spot on a primetime series or something.”

“What about the press? Is it starting to die down?”

Hal chuckled. “Yeah,
Jessika
Cook was arrested again last night for drunk driving. She’s in the hot seat today.”

Jessup felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. He didn’t like the thought of
Brac
hightailing it back to California, not one bit. He still wasn’t sure why his body reacted to
Brac
the way it did, but after talking to Priest he wanted to investigate it further.

“That’s welcome news,”
Brac
answered. “Regardless, I plan to stick around Wyoming until you hear something from Ike.”
Brac
turned his back to Jessup. “Do you think Randal remembers how much shit I have on him? Why isn’t he afraid I’ll go to the press if he threatens my job?”

“I don’t know.
That’s why I asked if there was something going on between the two of you.
Let me do some poking around. Call me in the morning. Hopefully I’ll have something by then.”

“All right.
Talk to you later.”
Brac
hung up and set Jessup’s phone on the table. “Holler when dinner’s ready,” he mumbled before leaving the room.

Jessup cursed under his breath. The good mood that had followed
Brac
the last several days had evaporated after one phone call. Picking up the plate of marinated steaks, Jessup headed outside to fire up the grill. Maybe he could think of a way to get that smile back on
Brac’s
gorgeous face.

* * * *

Swaying back and forth on the front porch swing,
Brac
stared out at the surrounding trees. Oddly, he wasn’t upset at the idea of being replaced on
Pirates’ Cove
. He’d begun to tire of the storylines months earlier anyway. It was the thought of Randal betraying him after everything they’d once shared that hurt.

The more he thought about it, the madder
Brac
became. Not only had
Brac
covered up Randal’s drug problem for years, but he’d never told another soul how Randal got the job on the soap. All it would take was one phone call to Ike, but blackmail wasn’t something he was comfortable with. Neither was breaking up Ike’s marriage to save his own ass.

The screen door opened and Jessup stuck his head out. “Dinner’s ready. You feel like eating on the deck?”

“Sure,”
Brac
replied, making no move to get up. “How far would you go to save your job?”

Jessup looked surprised at the question, but after several heartbeats he walked over and joined
Brac
on the swing. “That depends, I guess.”

“On what?”
Brac
fought to keep his hands to himself, when what he really wanted was to feel Jessup’s muscular arm wrapped around him.

“On how much you want the job. I heard you say you had some kind of dirt on Randal, but would exposing him make you feel good about yourself? A job is a job. But you can’t put a price on a man’s self-worth. I have a feeling Randal knows you could use whatever information you have on him, but I’m pretty damn sure he also knows you’re a good man and won’t stoop to his level.”

“The job’s not that big of a deal. Hal’s always turning down offers on my behalf. It’s more than that.”
Brac
met Jessup’s gaze. “I loved him once. I’d have had his back until the day I died.” He shook his head. “I guess I just wasn’t expecting him to do something like this to me. There’s a part of me that wants to hurt him back.”

“Sure there is.
Eye for an eye and all that.
But I think what you have to look at is who you’ll be doing more damage to, you or him? I’m betting the answer would be you.”

Without thinking,
Brac
reached for Jessup’s hand, but before he could touch the man, Jessup jumped to his feet. “Dinner’s getting cold,” Jessup said, walking into the house.

Brac
stood and followed. “Why do you do that?”

Jessup continued on through the kitchen to the back door. “I told you, I don’t like to be touched.”

Brac
stopped long enough to grab several bottles of beer out of the fridge before joining Jessup at the table. He pulled out the deck chair and took a seat, offering one of the beers. “I don’t do it to piss you off, you know?”

“I know.” Jessup slid one of the steaks onto
Brac’s
plate. “And it’s not just you, so don’t take it personally.”

“Well I do,”
Brac
answered honestly. “I see the way you look at me.”

“
Lookin’s
not the same as
touchin
’.” Jessup took a drink of his beer. “I don’t react well.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t.”
Jessup set his bottle down and stabbed a piece of steak with his fork.

Brac
heard pure pain in Jessup’s response. He reached out and placed his hand on the centre of the table. “Is it the same if
you
touch
me
?”

“Are you that hard up?” Jessup asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Brac
held his tongue. He was one of the few men in Los Angeles who didn’t let his dick rule him so Jessup’s comment didn’t hold the heat it could have. Despite the apparent rebuff, he didn’t move his hand, waiting, willing Jessup to touch him.

Jessup cleared his throat.
Brac
expected another comment but when none came, he peered up and met the man’s confused eyes. Jessup held
Brac’s
gaze for several moments before looking away. “Why is this so important?”

“I don’t know,”
Brac
whispered, “but it is.”

Jessup made a noise that sounded remarkably like a growl, but finally, finally,
Brac
watched as the sun-bronzed hand landed on the table next to his. He didn’t look up. He barely breathed until he felt the soft brush of Jessup’s thumb against his skin.

“This is stupid,” Jessup mumbled.

Brac
shook his head.
“Doesn’t feel stupid to me.”

“I’m not some kind of charity case, you know? I know you Hollywood types like a good cause, but I won’t be one of them,” Jessup growled.

Once again
Brac
remained silent. Instead, he concentrated on the warmth slowly covering his hand as Jessup became even bolder. It wasn’t until Jessup’s entire palm rested on the back of
Brac’s
hand that he spoke. “That feels nice.”

Although he didn’t say it for fear of scaring Jessup away,
Brac
had never felt so connected to another human being. Kit meant the world to him, but even she hadn’t brought on the emotions currently ripping their way through
Brac’s
soul. He’d slept with his fair share of men but never had he felt the warmth of trust Jessup was gifting him.
Brac
itched to turn his hand over and entwine his fingers with Jessup’s, but he knew it would take baby-steps to fully gain the man’s trust.

Eventually, Jessup removed his hand and stood. “Need another beer?”

Brac
stared into Jessup’s brown eyes, hoping to find something of what he’d felt in their depths. Confident that the brief moment between them had also affected Jessup,
Brac
nodded. “Sure.”

* * * *

Before retrieving beer from the refrigerator, Jessup quickly made his way to the small half-bath on the main floor. He turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on his face before studying himself in the mirror. Just like it had the night of Ezra’s party, his skin tingled from the physical contact with
Brac
.

The possibility of enjoying a sexual relationship with a man again was at the forefront of his mind. Not just any man—
Brac
. Jessup pressed his half-hard cock against the edge of the sink. Snippets of his sex life before Syria crept into his mind.

The torture he’d endured had spoilt the one thing in life he’d always craved. Being bounced from foster home to foster home had taught him from an early age not to engage emotionally with people. Love wasn’t part of his vocabulary, but fucking sure was. The physical release of a round of raw sex was all he needed to remind himself he was still human. Maybe
Brac
was the one person who could kick-start his libido.